The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) (Malay: Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; formerly known

as Malayan Islamic Party), commonly known as PAS, is an Islamist political party in Malaysia.
PAS's electoral base is in Malaysia's rural and conservative north. The party has governed the
east coast state of Kelantan twice (1959–1977 and 1990–present) and has also, in the past,
formed governments in Kedah (2008–2013) and Terengganu (1959–1962 and 1999–2004). The
party currently holds 14 of the 222 seats in the federal House of Representatives and has elected
parliamentarians or state assembly members in ten of the country's 13 states.

Contents
[hide]

 1Background
 2History
o 2.1Origins: post-World War II Islamist movements
o 2.2Party formation (1953–1956)
o 2.3Burhanuddin al-Helmy era (1956–1969)
o 2.4Asri Muda era (1970–1982)
o 2.5Ulama takeover (1982–1989)
o 2.6Electoral revival in the 1990s
o 2.7PAS in the 21st century
 3Ideology and policies
o 3.1Ties and linkages with the Muslim Brotherhood
 4Structure and membership
o 4.1Current office bearers
 5Elected representatives
o 5.1Dewan Negara (Senate)
 5.1.1Senators
o 5.2Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)
 5.2.1Members of Parliament of the 13th Malaysian Parliament
o 5.3Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)
 5.3.1Malaysian State Assembly Representatives
 6General election results
 7State election results
 8References
o 8.1Footnotes
o 8.2Cited texts
 9External links

Background[edit]
The party was founded in 1951 by Muslim clerics in the United Malays National
Organisation (UMNO). In the party's early decades, it fused Islamist and Malay
nationalist ideologies and entrenched itself as one of the country's strongest opposition parties.
From 1974 to 1978, PAS joined the governing Barisan Nasional coalition, but has otherwise been
in opposition at the federal level for the entirety of its history. The 1980s saw the party taken over
by a group of Muslim clerics ("ulama"), who shifted the party's ideology away from Malay
nationalism towards a more radical brand of Islamism. After poor electoral performances, the
party moderated in the 1990s, with an increase in progressive leaders. In the 2015 PAS
Muktamar, the Ulama wing called for a total out of progressives,[3] following which the progressive
leaders lost almost all party positions.[4] The progressive faction later formed Parti Amanah
Negara (AMANAH) and with the two main Malaysian opposition
parties, PKR, DAP formed Pakatan Harapan.
PAS's electoral base is in Malaysia's rural and conservative north. The party has governed the
northern state of Kelantan two times (1959-1977 and 1990-now) and has also, in the past,
formed governments in Kedah (2008-2013) and Terengganu (1959-1962 and 1999-2004). The
party currently holds 14 of the 222 seats in the federal House of Representatives and has elected
parliamentarians or state assembly members in ten of the country's 13 states.
The President is the party's chief office-holder. Abdul Hadi Awang has occupied the post since
2002. Under the President sits a Deputy President and three Vice-Presidents. There are two
standing decision-making bodies of the party: the elected Central Working Committee, which
deals with administrative and political affairs, and the Syura Council, composed of clerics, which
deals with religious matters. The party has formal branches for women members ("PAS
Muslimat") and youth ("PAS Pemuda"). Harakah is the party's official newspaper.

History[edit]
Origins: post-World War II Islamist movements[edit]
The post-World War II period, while Malaya was still under British colonial rule, saw the
emergence of the country's first formal Islamic political movements. The Malay Nationalist Party
(MNP), a left-wing nationalist organisation, was formed in 1945 and led by Burhanuddin al-
Helmy, who would later become the president of PAS. Out of the MNP arose the Pan-Malayan
Supreme Islamic Council (MATA) in 1947, and MATA in turn formed the party Hizbul
Muslimin ("Islamic Party") in 1948. The central aim of Hizbul Muslimin was the establishment of
an independent Malaya as an Islamic state.[5] However, the party did not live beyond 1948.
The Malayan Emergency of that year, while a British–Communist dispute, saw the colonial
administration arrest a number of the party's leaders, and the nascent group disbanded.
Nevertheless, the party served as a forerunner to PAS, supplying both the ideology upon which
PAS was formed and some of PAS's key leaders in its early years.[6]

Party formation (1953–1956)[edit]

PAS was founded on 24 November 1951, as the Persatuan Islam Se-Malaya (PAN-Malayan
Islamic Organisation). The formation of the party was the culmination of a growing movement
among Muslim clerics within the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) to formalise a
discrete Islamic political organisation. However, at first, the lines between UMNO and the new
party were blurred. PAS allowed dual membership of the two parties, and many of its early senior
leaders were also UMNO members. The party's first president was Ahmad Fuad Hassan, an
UMNO cleric. He lasted in the position only until 1953, when he fell out of favour with the party,
which was now developing a more distinct identity, and returned to the UMNO fold. Fuad's
departure coincided with the end of dual membership.[7] The party turned to Abbas Alias, a
Western-educated medical doctor, as its second president, although he did not play an active
role in the party and was little more than a nominal figurehead.[8]
The party's first electoral test was the pre-independence 1955 election to the Federal Legislative
Council, the body that preceded the national parliament. 52 single-member seats were up for
election; PAS fielded 11 candidates. Hampered by a lack of funds and party organisation, PAS
succeeded in having only one candidate elected: Ahmad Tuan Hussein, a teacher at an Islamic
school in Kerian, Perak. He was the only opposition member of the Council; the other 51 seats
were won by members of the Alliance coalition between UMNO, the Malaysian Chinese
Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress. PAS's performance in the election weakened its
hand in negotiations with the British over the terms of Malayan independence. Its advocacy for
the protection of Malay and Muslim rights, including the recognition of Islam as the country's
official religion, was ignored. Alias stepped down from the presidency in 1956, handing it
voluntarily to the radical nationalist Burhanuddin al-Helmy.[9] This change exemplified a broader
trend among PAS's leadership in the late 1950s: the party's upper echelons gradually became
filled with nationalists and long-time UMNO opponents, replacing the UMNO clerics who had
initially led the party